Car Slams Into Crowd at Outdoor Concert in Ohio, Injuring 9

The 74-year-old driver of a car that slammed into a crowd at an outdoor community concert in Ohio — injuring nine people, two of them seriously — confused the brake with the gas pedal, police said.

The woman drove onto a small dance floor Sunday night in the parking lot at Greenbrier Commons in Parma Heights, about 10 miles south of Cleveland, said Detective Sgt. Steve Scharschmidt.

The incident happened during a Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin tribute concert, part of a series of outdoor concerts. It was the last one scheduled for the summer, and more than 100 people were in attendance.

Scharschmidt said the unidentified Parma Heights woman was leaving the concert when she inadvertently hit the gas pedal instead of the brake as she was pulling out of her parking space. He said she drove onto the dance floor, hitting eight people. She then struck a telephone pole and a car as she tried to correct herself.

He said the woman was “shaken up” after hitting the people.

Six people were taken to area hospitals, two of them with serious injuries. Three others, including the driver, were treated at the scene for minor injuries. Scharschmidt said he believed the victims are all in their 50s, 60s or 70s.

The parking lot where it happened is also the parking lot for the Parma Heights Police Department.

“We had an officer inside who had heard all the people screaming, and he went out the front door,” he said.

Charges against the woman have not been filed. Scharschmidt said that recommending charges is something the department will “certainly review.”

The investigation is ongoing.